The FIA Institute’s Karting Research Group (KRG) is working with the Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) to publish new standards for mini karts – also known as bambinis – to provide them with an international level of safety through the use of enhanced front, rear and side bumpers.

Mini karts, used for children aged seven to 11, have not yet been regulated by the CIK because they are not part of any international championship. Therefore, the CIK, in collaboration with the FIA Institute, Germany’s DMSB and the UK Motor Sport Association, hopes to publish a set of safety standards that National Sporting Authorities will be able to adopt, providing an equivalent level of safety for mini karts as the junior and senior categories.

Andy Mellor, FIA Institute Head of Technical Affairs, said: “The CIK doesn’t actually run junior championships but it’s going to mean that all of the national events can operate to the international levels of safety. The initial testing was done in December at CSI in Italy and the results look very promising.”

The new performance specification for mini karts will include details of the crash test requirements for each of the bumpers, to be placed on the front, rear and each of the sides of the mini kart. Research has so far shown that the bumpers are effective in absorbing energy and reducing the potential for a roll-over in a kart-to-kart contact.

Bumpers were initially considered in a 2005 KRG project that resulted in a new CIK-FIA technical regulation for rear protection. This required all competition karts to be fitted with homologated rear wheel protection or anti-launch bumper to prevent a kart’s rear wheels from engaging with the kart behind. The protection system was used by all competitors during the 2006 CIK-FIA Karting Championships.

Mellor said: “That work was done back in 2005 for the senior categories, so now we’re hoping to achieve the same objectives, but this time cascading it down to the mini karts. The idea is that a seven-year old will be able to race a little kart that complies with the international safety regulations.”